Chaos
by swagosaurus
Summary: A twist of events prior to Team 7's creation shatters Naruto's mask completely. Distraught and broken, he latches onto anyone and anything that would have him. Unfortunately, memories and emotions don't go away so easily, nor do the temptations of demonic bloodlust. Revenge never tasted so delicious. DarkFic, NaruSaku, rated for violence, among other things.


**Chaos**

**By: Swagosaurus  
**

**Genre: Angst, Action, Adventure, Romance, Tragedy  
**

**Main Pairing: NaruSaku (It won't be happy.)  
**

A/N: So this is an idea that came to me while I was listening to some Soundgarden the other day. This will be something I do alongside Perfectly Imperfect Love; right now, I'm fleshing out the ideas for both of the stories. I know I had a poll up for a few weeks about my next fic, but this was too good to pass up.

Since, as most of my readers know, I love writing dark/angsty shit. It's fun, mainly because the Naruto world seems like it would be much more messed up than it's portrayed to be.

I always liked the idea of a dark Naruto; he would make an awesome villain.

As a heads-up for the romance; this shit's going to be _depressing_. Like, more-so than PIL-depressing. There won't be any major SS like I did in that story, but there's going to be angst on Naruto's part. Lots of it. And on Sakura's part, as well. You'll see. As for how it's portrayed, their relationship and the romance that come with it _will _play a massive role in the plot, hence why this is in the Angst/Romance category. :D

**Warning: Dark scenes ahead. Death, torture, violence, etc. If you've read my stuff before, you know what to expect. ;)  
**

* * *

_**Chaos: Chapter 1 - Times are gone for honest men  
**_

* * *

"Naruto...I guess since there's no point in you having that scroll, I'll tell you the truth."

The blonde Academy student stood in between his two sensei. Mizuki was standing on a tree, a vile smirk on his face as his fingers twitched. Iruka was pinned to a wall by a dozen kunai; they were embedded deep into his clothes and skin. Blood was slowly leaking from his mouth due to a blade that had dug deep into his gut, slicing into a few organs and tearing apart the muscle.

The chuunin on the branch had talked Naruto into stealing the Forbidden scroll and traveling to this clearing, in the promise of graduation from the Academy. After three years of failing, Naruto couldn't refuse.

But he was confused by what was happening. _Mizuki-sensei...did he trick me?_

"N-no! Don't, Mizuki!"

"Twelve years ago...you know the story, about how the Yondaime Hokage killed the demon fox, right?" The white-haired man asked. Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. _Huh? What's that got to do with anything?_

"Since that incident...a new law was made for this village. He said, his evil smirk getting larger with every word.

"A...law?" The blonde questioned, confusion evident on his face. _Why would they hide a law from me?_

"Ah, but Naruto...you were never supposed to learn about this law."

"Not me? But what is this law? Why?" Naruto asked, panic now evident in his voice. Mizuki laughed under his breath; the boys reaction was amusing to him.

"The law is that nobody is supposed to talk about the fact that _you _are the demon fox that attacked twelve years ago."

"Huh? What do you mean?!"

"STOP IT!" Iruka screamed desperately, the pain from the kunai numbing his mind and body.

"You...are the nine-tailed demon fox. You killed Iruka's parents, and almost destroyed the village."

"You were sealed up by the very Hokage you admire, and you have been lied to by everyone!" He yelled. Iruka screamed once more, but burst into a fit of coughs, blood still leaking out of his mouth.

It felt like the world crashed down on him. In truth, it really did make sense. All of the untainted, pure hatred he had faced in his early years. How the village's shinobi would look the other way when he was being mistreated or even beaten. How parents would warn their children not to play with the 'bad boy'.

"Didn't you ever find it odd how everyone hates you? Iruka is the same! He actually despises you, along side everyone else!" The chuunin snarled as he spun a large shuriken in his hand.

Naruto's mind was reeling. He felt an unsatisfiable bloodlust burn through his system; despisal, rage and loneliness was all he could feel. It was consuming. They were emotions he had put behind him when he joined the ninja academy; emotions he locked away in his efforts to become Hokage and gain the love and respect he desired so much.

"That very scroll was used to seal you up! NOBODY WILL EVER ACCEPT YOU!" He threw the multi-bladed weapon at the young demon vessel, who desperately tried to crawl away from getting impaled. He squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the pain, but it never came.

He looked up, and was shocked to see Iruka crouched above him protectively. He could see that blood was dripping from his Chuunin vest, and saw the large shuriken that was now impaled into his back.

"W...why?"

"You must have been so lonely, Naruto...I'm sorry. If I'd have done a better job, maybe it would have been easier for you..."

His words of kindness shocked Naruto, and he didn't know how to react. The blonde did the first thing that came to mind; he took the scroll, and ran for his life, ignoring his sensei's yells for him to stop.

"Heh...sorry. But Naruto doesn't seem like the type to forget...he wants to use that scroll to take revenge on the village." Mizuki said, still smirking as he jumped off the tree branch. He landed behind Iruka.

"You saw those eyes earlier...the eyes of a demon."

The brunette grunted in pain as he tore the large weapon from his back. "Naruto...he isn't like that!"

"Well...that doesn't really matter. I'll kill Naruto and take the scroll from him. I'll finish you later."

* * *

A group of chuunin and jounin, tasked by the Hokage, stood at the entrance to the forest. They varied in appearance; some were from the Akimichi clan, some from the Yamanaka and Nara, and other's were civilian-bred ninja.

"We need to hurry! If the demon-fox unleashes what's hidden in the scroll..." A large man said, and his fellows nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully Mizuki caught up to the brat. He should be chained up and locked away like the animal he is." Another sneered.

"Let's get going. No time to waste." The leader said, and the group launched into the trees.

* * *

The real Naruto hid behind a tree, clutching the forbidden scroll with all of his strength. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as the events of the past half hour caught up with him.

He was the Kyuubi. It still made perfect sense, the more; the pure, unadulterated scorn he had faced as a child. The beatings and the mistreatment in the orphanage. The glares he sometimes received to this day, and the way everyone avoided him and ignored him like he was some sort of vile pest.

The loneliness he now felt was almost unbearable. Who would ever want to befriend a demon? No one. No one would ever love him, or want to play with him, or give him affection and true attention.

He was just the demon brat; always and forever. He felt cold, but not because of the temperature. Because of the darkness that he was teetering on the edge of falling into.

The worst part was the betrayal he now felt. Everyone had lied to him. Iruka, the old Hokage, his instructors, and the few villagers that were nice to him. The ANBU that had guarded him as a child, the shinobi that would lend him training tips; all of them withholding the information he had desired for so long. They were all liars.

A pair of voices were talking behind him. He craned his neck to listen in.

"How...how did you know I wasn't Iruka?" A voice he recognized as Mizuki's spoke. A 'pop' rang throughout the clearing, the clear sound of a henge being dispelled.

"Because I'm Iruka." The other voice said, humorless amusement evident in his voice. "Hmph...I see..."

"Heh. You'd even transform into what killed your parents in order to protect him?"

"I won't hand the scroll over to an idiot like you!" The brunette academy teacher yelled in protest. His body burned, and his lungs ached for air, but he wouldn't give up. He had to protect Naruto, and he had to protect the scroll. It was his duty.

"You're the idiot. Naruto and I are the same."

"...The same?" Iruka asked warily. Naruto's eyes darkened, and he clutched the scroll tighter as his expression became serious at Mizuki's next words.

"If you use the skills in that scroll...you can do whatever you want. There's no way that the demon fox wouldn't want that power, unlike what you think."

"Yeah...the demon fox would..." Iruka started, but was cut off by laughing. "See, I knew you agreed. But...unfortunately, I can't have any witnesses."

Naruto clenched his eyes closed. _Damn. I knew it, even deep down...Iruka-sensei doesn't acknowledge me. Hates me._

He was cut off from his musings but a sharp gasp and a disturbing gurgling sound. He carefully glanced around the tree, and saw Mizuki slitting Iruka's neck. Blood leaked down onto his vest and the forest floor as the brunette twitched and writhed.

Naruto's eyes widened considerably, his chest constricting painfully. Iruka was the only person who offered him kindness and help; even though he knew Iruka hated him, he still took time to offer him some sort of attention. And now...he was dead. Murdered in front of his very eyes by someone who was a _comrade_.

Finished with his deed, Mizuki laughed maniacally. Naruto buried his face onto the parchment of the scroll, desperately wishing for a miracle. He knew Mizuki knew he was here.

He was suddenly consumed by blinding pain, and then an awkward feeling of numbness. His body collapsed onto the cold, damp earth, the scroll rolling out of his hands and a few meters away.

He felt blood trickle down his neck, but couldn't move. He began to panic. He couldn't move, but he could still _feel_.

Mizuki had poisoned him with something. The white-haired chuunin rolled Naruto onto his back, an evil smirk on his face as he knelt down next to his favorite demon fox.

"You've given me a lot of trouble, Naruto. I had to kill Iruka because of his strange liking for you. You deserve some punishment for your crimes, fox." It was then the blonde noticed the barbed, extremely sharp kunai in his hands. He also took out a jar filled with a strange, yellowish-green liquid.

The blonde figured Mizuki must have truly thought he was Konoha's demon fox, and not it's container like he heard some people call it. He knew what he was. He was Naruto Uzumaki.

When the white-haired chunin dipped his kunai in the liquid, and a faint sizzled sound was heart, Naruto tensed. His eyes were wide in fear.

The sadistic ex-sensei raised the dagger, and let a drop of the liquid drop on the blonde's skin. Naruto's eyes widened when his skin began to burn intensely, and the liquid began to sizzle his flesh.

The scream that was about to leave his throat was silenced by fear as Mizuki grinned evilly and moved the blade over to his cheek. He heard the faint popping and hissing of the acid hitting the forest floor next to his ear.

"Those whisker marks of yours...they seem to be fading a little with your age. They look like they need a little work."

The pain Naruto felt was almost unbearable. The knife cut into his flesh, followed by the acid which crept into his wound and ate away at his flesh. He could feel _everything_, and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much his brain tried to comprehend the situation and order his body to move, he was still.

His screams were silent, and other than the unbearable slow _slices _of the knife, no other sounds were made. The clearing was impossible silent, save for his labored breathing and the slight snickers of the evil, traitorous man above him.

The first scar was now bleeding profusely and burning like the hell below them. He wished it would stop; wish the agony he was experiencing would cease.

He wished for death when the blade moved to the next faint line on his cheek.

As the kunai cut across his skin, he felt something stir deep within him; something he had buried when he entered the academy. Something that scared him, that he didn't want to feel.

Hatred.

And that feeling only grew when he saw them. A group of _Konoha _shinobi were standing behind a thicket of trees and bushes, watching him getting tortured. Seeing his own comrades, his own village folk betray him like that sent him off the edge, and his mind shut down.

* * *

Hiruzen was beyond angry. What he had just witness...what he was looking at now, though uncouth and unprofessional, _pissed him off_.

The catatonic, shaking boy in front of him unnerved him. After sending his _loyal _and _understanding _ANBU to deal with Mizuki and who he now deemed as those that shamed Konoha and the Will of Fire, he had brought Naruto to his own personal living quarters. He wouldn't let any of the Konoha medic-nin's treat him.

_The demon fox's chakra already did most of the work..._ He mused, staring at the blood stained yet wound-free face of the child he had come to know as his own grandson. He had caught Mizuki too late. The damage was already done. A few of his most loyal and protective ANBU stood in the room, solemn looks on their normally stoic faces under their masks.

He knelt next to the blonde, whose eyes were blank and devoid of any positive emotion. The Hokage rested his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Naruto...talk to me, son. Please."

No one deserved this. Very few people understood what this boy, no, this _hero _had done for them. What he continues to do for them. He contained the most dangerous beast the current world has come to know. His father was a legend among shinobi, and his mother was a fierce and immensely powerful kunoichi.

The Sarutobi wished that he could tell Naruto, and everyone, of his heritage, and explain in full detail exactly _what _he had done for them. But he couldn't. Too many factors were in place, and too many consequences could come.

If Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki was revealed, he would be hated even more than he was now. Not only by the ignorant civilian population, but the unknowing shinobi and up-coming genin as well. His peers and the few 'friends' he had obtained over the years would shun him, and he feared that would destroy Naruto even more than he already was.

"Come on, Naruto. Snap out of it. It's okay."

Stunning him, the boy's eyes snapped out of their daze, and locked gazes with the Third. His dulled, darkened blue eyes sparked with recognition. He remembered everything that had happened to him prior to blacking out. His chest squeezed and squirmed in pain, but he forced himself to speak.

"Old Man?" He said, his voice hollow and almost a whisper.

"I'm here, Naruto. I'm here."

No tears were shed on the blonde's part. He only had a gaze filled with the most complex turmoil of negativity Hiruzen had ever seen in a person; rivaled only by his old student, Orochimaru.

There was a massive sadness in his eyes. A longing for attention and comfort, and intense loneliness. He had no friends, no family and no one that loved him. The only person that had ever shown him _true _kindness and compassion was now dead.

A pang of loss hit the old Hokage's heart. He still couldn't believe that Iruka was dead; not a few hours ago, the two were talking happily. The morning was going to be hell when trying to explain the events. He prayed that the squad he had removed from the rosters wouldn't spread lies and filth among the village's gossipers.

And hatred. He could feel it coming from Naruto; the need for revenge, for some sort of _justice _for the crimes that had been inflicted upon him.

"Why...?" The blonde's broken voice said. Hiruzen understood the thousand questions that simple word wanted to ask. _Why didn't you tell me? Why do they all hate me? Why was I lied to?_

All the Hokage would offer was a genuine smile, and the kind words of a family figure. His duties as Hokage limited the time he could spend with him, but now, Naruto needed him more than ever. He explained why he couldn't tell him, why it was made a secret, why the bastards in the council had _ruined _his life in the desire to protect the village.

He was well-aware of what Suna's jinchuuriki had become. A mass-murdering, hate-filled, self-loving monster. He never wanted Naruto to become that.

"So it's true, then...? I'm the demon fox?" Naruto asked, his eyes as dead as he felt. He had no desires. He had no _feeling_; he couldn't.

"No. You're not _the _demon fox. You contain the fox; you're it's jailor, it's container. You two are separate." The Hokage said, still holding his heartbreaking smile.

His words somewhat comforted him, and a mirthless chuckle escaped Naruto's lips. The Old Man was the only one he could trust, now, and his words _felt _true. He had learned, in his years of solitude and betrayal, how to read a person's emotions and expression. No one could fake the expression his pseudo-grandfather was giving him now. "Figures those stupid idiots can't tell the difference." He said, a sliver of his 'normal' exuberance slipping into his mind. But, his words were filled with distaste and cruelness.

Naruto was broken. Hiruzen knew. There would be no more loud declarations of being Hokage, no more painting of the monument, no more obnoxious pranks.

"You hate me too, don't you, Old Man? For what I carry? For what I _am_? Iruka-sensei did, too, you know. Everyone does." Naruto said spitefully, the waves of anger and distrust washing into him again, blasting away the comfort he had just felt.

"I would never hate you, Naruto. As far as I'm concerned...you're a goddamned hero for containing that beast." The Sarutobi replied honestly.

Naruto felt as though his emotions were giving him whiplash. One minute, he was filled with rage and contempt, the next, he felt comforted and _wanted_.

After talking for a few more minutes, Naruto struggled to push the memories of the night, and the majority of the previous thirteen years of his life behind him. He wanted to forget, but unfortunately, the hurt didn't go away. The pain and the agony.

"I guess I didn't pass the makeup exam?" Naruto asked sarcastically, finally standing up on shaking legs. He could still feel the burning in his skin, and he unconsciously rubbed his cheek, a pained expression on his face.

"No, Naruto. Surviving an encounter like that...and learning a forbidden jutsu, I might add..." Hiruzen said as he rummaged around his personal effects, trying to lighten the mood, even by a smidge. Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and his hand automatically rubbed the back of his head shyly. Nothing could get pass the Old Man.

"That deserves the rank of genin." He said, finally finding what he was looking for. He turned, and handed Naruto a weighted object.

The jinchuuriki's eyes widened when his hands grasped the soft cloth and cool metal of a Konoha forehead protector. The strap the engraved Leaf symbol was fastened onto was grey in color, and was of standard genin forehead protector length.

"Are...you serious...?" He asked his Hokage, who only nodded, happy to spark some semblance of positive emotion in him.

Naruto didn't know what to say. Iruka was dead, and he didn't ever think _anyone _would be kind to him like Iruka was. Was it all a trick? Was this just another trap, pretending to be nice, only to truly hate him, deep down?

Regarding the still-present soft expression on the Sarutobi's face, he guessed that was a no. With trembling hands, Naruto strapped his Hokage's old forehead protector to his own head.

"There. You're wearing the symbol of the Leaf; of all Hokage's before me. Wear it with pride...and do your village proud, Naruto. You'll prove them wrong. I just know it." Hiruzen said with as much sympathy and kindness as he could. He wished the boy's life could just be easy or simple. But it never was.

After giving a ginormous hug to the Hokage, and sharing a bowl of ramen, the two said their goodbyes, promising to see each other soon. Hiruzen was going to help him, no matter the cost nor the time.

Naruto left to his humble apartment, secretly guarded by a pair of ANBU shinobi to make sure no straggling villagers caused him any more trauma. The blonde felt, for the first time in years, _content_. His emotional scars would heal with time, he was beginning a new life as a Konoha shinobi, and the events of the previous day were already starting to gradually fade from his mind.

Unfortunately, that night was when the whispers started.

* * *

A/N: So, how was it? Sad? Stupid? Good? Let me know in the reviews!

So as you can see, I'm pulling out all the stops. Shits going to go down.

This story might end up coming off a little bashy, but I'm not trying to make it blatantly obvious author-based hatred. The way I see it, if Iruka never said the good words about Naruto to Mizuki about not being the fox, he wouldn't be the happy little idiot we all know today.

Iruka saved him from the hell of loneliness; if he didn't, he would have ended up like Gaara/Sasuke. That's sort of what I'm going for here, besides the insanity that those two had/have. Hiruzen's going to be the foundation Naruto rests his sanity on, as you can see. But, all things come to an end. That's all I'll say. ;)

As for following the manga; it's going to be mostly canon up until the after Search for Tsunade arc. Though, I have some major things I'm going to be changing until then.

I hope you guys enjoyed! I'm actually incredibly excited to write this story. If anyone wants to beta for me, hit me up with a PM. It would be cool to have someone to bounce ideas off of. (if the magnificent bastard is reading this, your services would be greatly appreciated once more. ;D)

Updates will probably be random until I'm finished PIL; when that bad boy is complete, this fic will take over it's four-seven day 'timeslot', if you will.


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